7,000 doctors from six banned countries in U.S.

Health Affairs reports that “The Executive Order restricting visas for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen has many legal, political, and moral implications…..

There are more than 7,000 physicians trained in countries targeted by the executive order working in the United States. Together, they see an estimated 14 million visits from patients each year. They provide 1.2 million doctor’s appointments per year in Michigan; 880,000 million in Ohio; 700,000 in Pennsylvania; and 210,000 in West Virginia. The five cities in America with the highest share of doctors from these countries are Detroit, Toledo, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Dayton.

What Our Findings Mean

Not all of these physicians have stability in their immigration status; even for those that do, their ability to see family members and loved ones from affected countries is now highly curtailed.

Second, this analysis shows that the six banned countries have been an important pipeline to the health care workforce, while the United States faces shortages, particularly in rural and underserved areas. We know from evidence as well as our own experience that these physicians tend to be among the highest performing in their location of origin.

The United States, in upholding this ban, stands to lose an important source of high-skilled labor, of health care, and of biomedical innovation.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *